Cairo > Dahab

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Blogging on.

Last day in Cairo...went big at this hole in the wall Egyptian bar in a back alley. Some old "high rolling" Egyptian dude invited me to the table and continued to supply beers, and push cigs on me. This country smokes like you wouldn't believe. From there we made our way to this Belly dancing bar/club - It's about as provocative as it gets in a Muslim country. Honestly, I have seen more skin exposed on Fox after 8 pm. It was pretty cool though, as I was the only white guy there, and a live band played while various dancers did there thing. I was even invited on stage, which is basically a way to get more tips for the band and dancers, which I was happy to comply with as i showered them with Egyption pounds. I had to wake up for a flight at 5am, and when 1am rolled around I pleaded with my Egyptian host to allow me to go, explaining that the flight was early, and I still had to walk back to the hotel. He pushed yet another smoke and beer on me, and I called it a night.

I arrived the next day in Sharm, the major city on the Sinai peninsula. Its kind of a tourist shit hole, so getting out was the first thing on the menu, especially with the lack of sleep and hangover, and heat, and dust, sand, and all the other shit that comes with 3 hours of sleep and flight to the scorching hot desert.

I arrived in Dahab, having already researched and booked a place to stay. I can't begin to tell you how happy I was with it. Located on the boardwalk right on the ocean, I have ocean room, with patio that sits over the Red Sea. I can wake up, open the door and gaze at Saudi Arabia across the see. I am paying 12$ a night.

The staff at the place is awesome. They've brought me to their houses in town, enjoying tea and flat bread. It's a family owned place, with its own restaurant and roof top deck for an evening drink or shesha as the sun sets over Mt. Sanai, home of the burning bush, and all that other religious stuff.

The town itself is right up my alley - more "travelers" then "tourist." And everything is cheap, and for the most part pretty quality. They have this boardwalk that runs thru the town along the ocean that is great for an evening stroll.

They, like a few other places in the area have suffered from some unfortunate events in the past few years. A bombing in town a year ago has kind of hurt the tourist industry, which is unfortunate, because it only hurts the locals. The bombing was actually meant for Egyptian government and not tourist. Isreali', imperticular have avoided it like the plague.

As of yesterday I became certified in scuba diving. I had a blast, as well as a great instructor. The first dive, which was a bit different then the pool in Eagan, MN, was a little odd at first but after about 30 secs, I calmed down, and things were super smooth. They are pretty serious about the diving rules and certs, which I like, because I wouldn't want to put it in the hands of some shotty joint you'd find in Cancun, or something along those lines.

The days have been hot and windy - and salty due to the diving. The evenings here are pretty mellow, since it's a dive town AND Muslim, people don’t go to crazy in the evenings.

Met a few really cool people - a girl from Minnesota (Mankato) who lives in DC, and studied foreign policy (CIA like stuff). Then there is Adam, an English guy in his 20's who was in DC for a few weeks in 2006 for the elections (congress and senate). He said he was sick and tiered of the Republican machine and wants to go out and help the cause. I was blown away. He flew to DC (from London) on his own dime, and volunteered his OWN time, for something most Americans don't have a clue about. We had a great conversation, citing many moments from the Daily Show.

The other guy I met was this Britt, who resembled about 85% of the people that I went to college with at the Evergreen State College, a school for hippies. A hippie he was not. He was in the British Marines, and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think the conversation with him will be its own entry, maybe save it till tomorrow.

Besides that....going for yet more dives tomorrow...deep dive, and night dive. Should be good times.....keep you posted.

-dylan

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